An unmarried unassuming 39 year old philosophy professor, still living at home with mother, is implicated in a vicious sexual assault. The victim is adamant that he is the perpetrator; in order to clear his name, he takes a lie detector test only to receive a guilty verdict. The female polygrapher understands the problems with such results and befriends him to help find the truth. His mother, a domineering and controlling woman, refuses to let her son see the polygrapher and a violent struggle ensues between mother and son.